There’s a particular shade of red lipstick, a blue-toned crimson, that I always associate with a certain kind of pop star. Think early Taylor Swift, a pre-recession Katy Perry. Sweet, but with a knowing wink. The exact shade Olivia Rodrigo wore on her debut album cover.
“Sour,” that album, was a sugar rush. A potent cocktail of teenage heartbreak, expertly crafted to resonate with anyone who’d ever felt the sting of a first love gone wrong. And resonate it did. The album broke streaming records, dominated the charts, and turned Rodrigo into a bona fide pop phenomenon.
But something interesting happened between then and now. The release of “Vampire,” the lead single from her sophomore album “Guts,” feels different. Sharper. More incisive. The lyrics, once lamenting lost love, now drip with a cynicism that feels, dare I say, earned.
“Bloodsucker, fame fucker / Bleedin’ me dry like a goddamn Tampax,” she sings, her voice dripping with venom. It’s a far cry from the lovelorn vulnerability of “Drivers License.” This Olivia isn’t crying in the suburbs. She’s on the attack.
The music video for “Vampire” reinforces this shift. Gone are the pastel hues and soft focus. Instead, we find Rodrigo thrashing on a stage bathed in red light, her white dress slowly staining crimson. It’s theatrical, dramatic, and undeniably powerful. A visual metaphor, perhaps, for the shedding of a carefully constructed image.
This evolution, from saccharine to subversive, is a tightrope walk. One that many young female artists have attempted, with varying degrees of success. The challenge lies in shedding the skin of manufactured pop without alienating the fanbase that embraced it in the first place.
But there’s a self-awareness to Rodrigo’s evolution that feels different. She’s not simply rejecting her past; she’s dissecting it. Laying bare the machinery of the pop machine and the toll it can take on a young artist.
“The fame fucker / Playing act one, act two,” she sings, her voice laced with a knowing weariness. It’s a line that feels deeply personal, a glimpse behind the curtain of celebrity.
It’s too early to say whether Rodrigo’s gamble will pay off. Whether “Guts” will solidify her transformation from pop princess to something altogether more complex. But one thing is certain: Olivia Rodrigo is no longer content to play the role she was assigned. She’s writing her own narrative, one sharp-edged lyric at a time.
And that, in the often predictable world of pop music, is a breath of fresh air.
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